Aranta
by drunkambrose
Summary: A horde of reptiles threatens Noonvale, causing a dark-minded young mouse to travel to salamandastron for help. Ignore the Read "Destruction" first thing. The first few chapters SUCK as far as detail goes, but it gets a lot better as the story progresses.
1. Chapter 1

Destruction

Destruction

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this is how Aranta was pushed away from his home.

Disclaimer: I do not own redwall, but I do own all of the characters in this fic

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Destruction

It was near midnight. Aranta, his mother, and his father were all safe in bed.

or so they thought.

Skaralth, the weasel, and his vermin crew of fourscore, were waiting in the woods.

"Do we attack 'em yet, chief?" asked bluetail the rat. "shaddup fool! Do you want 'em to hear us? we'll attack 'em when I say so!" "wait 'till the Noonvale militia patrol passes, and then, we'll attack 'em!"

Carran, a new recruit in the Noonvale militia, asked "sir, we've been patrolling all night, and we haven't seen a thing." "don't worry, you'll be back in bed soon." said Plurba, the Noonvale chieftain. They passed by the vermin crew without so much as at the bushes, where Skaralth, and his vermin team were hiding.

"Now is the time!" said Skaralth. The vermin moved in silently on Aranta's homestead. Boom! Skaralth kicked down the door. the vermin poured in on Aranta's parents. Before they could say anything, they were dead. Run through by Skaralth and his viscious horde. they went rampaging through the house, stealing or breaking anything they could get their claws on.

Aranta heard everything. Tears ran down his cheecks as he thought of his mother and father. Then, he muttered to himself, "I must focus on getting away from here!"

"I have to warn the Noonvale chieftain!" He heard the vermin. They were right outside his door! They would be upon him any second! He grabbed his dagger and his bow and quiver, and crawled out the window. The Noonvale chieftain had to know before it was too late!


	2. Chapter 2

Aranta rushed into Noonvale, heading straight to Chief Plurba's dwelling

_Hello, everybody, this fan fiction takes place right after __Destruction,__ one of my other fanfics. If you haven't read __Destruction__ yet, go to my profile page and click on it. DO NOT READ THIS if you haven't read __Destruction__. Oh yeah, I forgot to do all that disclaimer stuff_

_I DO NOT OWN REDWALL and all that other junk. Oh, and chief Plurba and Aranta are mice, just in case you didn't figure that out yourself._

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_Aranta_

Aranta rushed into Noonvale, heading straight to Chief Plurba's dwelling. He pounded on the door. "Let me in! It's urgent! There are vermin near Noonv-." Chief Plurba stepped outside, putting his paw tightly around Aranta's mouth. Plurba dragged him inside. "Be very quiet Aranta, we'll be lucky if the vermin didn't hear us." "How did you know about-." "Shh, I'll tell you later, just keep your weapons ready." They were very lucky. The vermin sentry, who had been standing only a few meters away, had fallen asleep.

After Skaralth and his horde had plundered their share from Aranta's home, they set fire to it, and went back to their camp.

It was morning. A meeting was held in the center of the village. Plurba and Aranta, the only two creatures to see the vermin yet, had the floor. Plurba spoke first. "Last night, I awoke from a deep sleep. I heard a shuffling sound, and then a pained gasp. I crept outside to see what it was. Apparently two vermin had got in a fight. A severed ear lay on the ground. The two vermin went back to their camp, one of them clutching the spot where his ear had been. Luckily, I had not been spotted." There were nervous murmurs from the frightened Noonvalers. Now it was Aranta's turn to speak. "The Hellspawn killed my family and destroyed my home! They will pay for it with their lives!" Gasps arose from the Noonvalers at Aranta's outburst. "I'm sorry, please forgive me." Aranta apologized. "What are we going to do about the vermin?" a mouse asked. "First, we will have to erect a palisade around the village" said Plurba.

Soon after, the Noonvalers set to work on building a wooden palisade around the center of the village. There wasn't enough wood to encircle all of Noonvale, so the Noonvalers fetched their belongings and moved into longhouses constructed by the Noonvale militia for an occasion such as this. Aranta was in a corner, away from the rest, who were busily working on the palisade. Aranta sat, brooding over the loss of his parents. "The vermin killed my family! I will return the favor soon!" he stared down at his clenched fists. They were turning white. He did not know that his friend Rurark the squirrel was watching him from the roof of the longhouse that Aranta was sitting under. They had been friends since dibbunhood, so it was only natural that Rurark would want to help Aranta with his bloodwrath-like problem. Rurark climbed down from the roof. "Aranta, your family would've wanted you to defend Noonvale. Stop brooding!" But Aranta had his mind set on what he was going to do. "I will give those vermin Hell!" Rurark knew it was hopeless to try to change Aranta's mind. "Be careful if you're leaving the palisaded parts of the village, Aranta. Vermin could be around every corner!" Aranta picked up his bow and dagger, and walked out of the palisade gates. "Oh, and watch you're language, Aranta!" Rurark smiled at his determined friend.

Aranta was out of the village. He planned to slip into the vermin camp silently, and kill their leader, Skaralth. He would then slip out quietly, and return to Noonvale. Sever the snake's head, and the rest dies. Aranta had been walking through the forest for almost three hours, and when he reached the vermin camp, it was dark. The vermin were all sitting around campfires, talking about various things, most too explicit to put into text. Aranta grasped his poisoned dagger, and snuck around to Skaralth's tent. He slowly opened the back flap. Skaralth sat sipping dark damson wine he had stolen from Aranta's home. He had gotten drunk off of it, so his reflexes were slow. Aranta was on top of him before he could turn around. Aranta drove the poisoned blade of his dagger into Skaralth's throat. "Arreooogh!" after his agonized scream, he fell to the ground, made several gurgling noises, and lay still. Aranta knew he had to escape fast; the vermin had undoubtedly heard Skaralth's death sounds. Aranta quickly grabbed the nearest weapon, Skaralth's sword, his small dagger and bow and arrows were no match for a fully armed vermin horde. The sword was a beautiful weapon, with mysterious obsidian colored blade, and a gold hilt. Aranta somehow knew it was not made by vermin; it was far too intricate for a vermin swordsmith, whoever had crafted it was truly skilled. Aranta heard the vermin running up to the tent to investigate. Aranta cut open the tent with his sword, and charged. "Nooonvaaaale!" the battle light shined in his eyes as two vermin fell to his blade, their blood spattered on his clothes. One vermin sliced his shoulder deep with a rusty cutlass. Aranta's veins were filled with adrenaline; he did not even feel pain. He felled one more vermin, and ran with all his strength back to Noonvale.

Hours later, he rushed through the palisade gates, which had not been completed yet, so it was easy for sombeast to get through. He knocked on the door of the first house he saw. A pretty mousemaid opened the door. She gasped in shock. "Oh, my! You're covered in blood!" Aranta gave the slightest hint of a smile. "Don't worry; _most_ of it's not mine. I came to ask for a place to rest for the night, I have been running through the forest for hours, and I'm exhausted. I'll tell you everything tomorrow morning I you want to know." "Wait, hold on, you said _most_ of that bloods' not yours, does that mean you're wounded?" asked the mousemaid, worriedly. "Its nothing." Said Aranta as he showed her the deep cut on his shoulder. "We must get that bandaged up!" said the mousemaid. "No, really, it's just a scratch." Then he looked at her more closely. She wasn't just pretty, she was beautiful "well, actually, I guess you're right, it's pretty deep, it could get infected. Oh, and I never asked you, what is your name?" asked Aranta. "Violet, what's yours?" To Aranta, her name was almost as beautiful as she was. "Aranta" She led him in and sat hi down on a rush mat. "Hold on Aranta, I'll go get some bandages, and some seaweed grog I took from those wretched vermin. It works quite well for cleaning out wounds, oh and it is a bit painful. "I can imagine," said Aranta. Violet got up, and returned several seconds later with clean cloth, and a jug of seaweed grog. She took a rag, dampened it with seaweed grog, and started rubbing it on his wounded shoulder. "Hellsteeth! That hurts!" "Watch your language Aranta!" He laughed. "I have to work on that." "Before I bandage your shoulder, you will have o wash all of that blood off of your fur, there's a tub of water in the room back there." Aranta began blushing immediately. "I, err um sure, uh." Violet giggled. "Don't worry! I have clothes in there for you also" Aranta felt relieved. After he had bathed and been bandaged, he fell asleep quickly on an armchair.

It was almost noon when Aranta awoke. "Wake up sleepy!" "Huh, oh hi Violet." "Uhh, I'm sore all over" "Well, you'd better _limp_ over to chief Plurba's longhouse, he wanted to talk with you, Aranta." _I'm going to be in front f the chief; I might as well be formal_ he thought as he picked up his sword and sheathed it. He walked to the long house where Chief Plurba was living. He opened the door. "Aranta, come in, and shut the door, I have something to tell you, it is _very _important." Aranta did as he was told. He sat down on an improvised chair, made of a tree stump. "Listen, Aranta, I'm telling you this because I trust you. We sent out a scouting party a few hours ago, when they came back, they told me vermin were laying slain everywhere, and lizards were feasting on the bodies! Some of the militia members vomited immediately. It was a _gory_ sight they said. Aranta sat speechless. "What are we going to do now?" asked Aranta. "Try to hold out as long as we can, and hope help arrives." said Plurba, sadly. "Don't mention this to anybeast yet. We don't want the villagers to get _too_ nervous, we don't even know if the lizards will attack us, let's just wait it out, and see. Oh, and Aranta, how did you get that wound on your shoulder?" "Oh, I was uhh, farming, and well-." You went and attacked the vermin, didn't you?" "Yeah" Plurba grinned at Aranta's recklessness. You're not furious with me?" asked Aranta, surprised. "Of course not, why would I be, you were just helping to defend Noonvale. How many vermin did you get?" asked Plurba. Aranta held back bile rising in his gut. He fought back the urge to vomit. He forced out the words. "I'd rather not think about it. I- I ended creatures' lives, I- I killed them…" Aranta's own voice sounded far away from him. "Aranta, what else could you have done? You had to defend yourself. Besides, you avenged the death of your family." said Plurba. "You're right; I must do what is necessary for the sake of all of our lives. If the lizards attack us, which I have a feeling they will, I will have to defend Noonvale with all of my strength, and I'm sure the other villagers will do the same. Aranta said it all with a stone-hard voice. He walked back to Violet's house; she had said he could stay there until he built his own shelter.

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_Okay, that's chapter one. Don't worry, I won't be like some other writers I know cough-Dinger-the-otter-cough I will update soon. I am going to have a guinea pig as a character in the next chapter. Yes, I know guinea pigs aren't canon creatures, and if any one who wants to flame me about it will be spammed the s out of. If you do not review, I will send my pet guinea pig on you all, and he will nibble you to death. _


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, I know this chapter is extremely short compared to the first chapter, but I got my first review (thanks Jade Tealeaf), and it inspired me to write some more

_Yes, I know this chapter is extremely short compared to the first chapter, but I got my first review (thanks Jade Tealeaf), and it inspired me to write some more._

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Aranta walked back to Violet's house. "Welcome back, Aranta!" exclaimed Violet.

"Hey, Violet." said Aranta emotionlessly.

"What did Chief Plurba want to talk to you about?" asked Violet.

"Look, I'll tell you later, I'd rather be alone right now." Aranta walked into the back room, where Violet had sat up a bed for him. There, he stared silently at the wall, thinking about what to do about the lizards. "Hey, why do you look so down in the dumps?" Aranta drew his sword. There, standing just outside the window, was a creature that resembled a small badger, although it had brown and white colored fur. "What are you, and what do you want?" commanded Aranta. "Well, my dear sir, I am a guinea pig, what are you?" asked the strange creature. "Umm, I'm a mouse," replied Aranta, confused. "Now, answer my question," said Aranta. "Where did you come from?"

The guinea pig had a pained look upon his face. "My name is Chibbo, from a land very far from here. My whole tribe was attacked by vicious hawks. We all tried to escape on a big ship, but searats captured us and made us all oarslaves aboard their wretched ship. I was the only one successful in escaping from them; I woke up washed ashore not too far from here. I hope to go rescue my tribe one day."

Aranta spoke. "You should come in and get some food. You must be hungry." said Aranta. "Ahh, so the door is on the other side." said the strange creature. Aranta stood, puzzled, as Chibbo made his way to the other side of the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys

_Hi guys. This is chapter 4, I can't really think of anything else to say, so here it is._

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Aranta and Violet let Chibbo in. He was almost too large to fit into the door, being bigger than a mouse. _I wonder how many more creatures I can let into my home _Wondered Violet. She giggled silently to herself. Chibbo entered. "Nice place you've got here" said Chibbo.

"Uhh, thanks." said Violet. Chibbo sat, or more like lay, in a guinea pig's case, on one of the rush mats on the floor. "Are you hungry?" asked Violet.

"No, I'll eat later, I'm tired now" Chibbo went to sleep on the rush mat almost immediately. Aranta and Violet spent the rest of the day working on fortifying the village. It was evening when they got back to Violet's home. Chibbo was still asleep.

"Chibbo, wake up." said Aranta softly into Chibbo's ear. Chibbo gave no response, except for snoring loudly, and rolling over. Aranta and Violet yelled at the top of their lungs. "Chibbo, wake up!"

"Huh? no! The undead squirrels will never get me! Oh right, sorry. It's you. Hi guys." Aranta chose not to comment on Chibbo's strange dream. Violet didn't comment either.

"I'm hungry." said the guinea pig. _Now I am kind of regretting letting this creature in._ thought Aranta.Violet seemed to know what Aranta was thinking. "He won't do us any harm Aranta, he seems like a friendly creature." said Violet.

"Um, once again, do you have anything to eat? I am famished!"

Violet left, and came back shortly with three cups of October ale, and three bowls of woodland vegetable stew. "Tell me if you want some more ale or stew Chibbo, you are bigger than us, so I thought you might want a larger portion." said Violet.

"Mmmff! This is the best stew I have ever had!" praised Aranta.

"Yes, I have to agree, it is quite good." said Chibbo.

Violet blushed. "Well, thank you, Aranta and Chibbo."

"Violet, you're blushing!" said Aranta.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Actually, Violet, even with the bad eyesight of a guinea pig I can tell you are clearly blushing" Chibbo interrupted.

The three of them burst out laughing. They went to sleep soon afterwards, even Chibbo, who had been sleeping all day.

They woke up the next morning to a loud knocking on the door. It was Rurark. "Aranta, do you want to come on the patrol the militia set up? It's okay if you don't, I heard about your wound and all."

"Are you kidding? It's just a scratch! Of course I'll come!" Aranta was out the door before Violet or Chibbo knew it. He took his sword and bow with him. He and Rurark walked over to where there was a gathering of about fifteen mice, moles, and squirrels were gathered, with pitchforks, shovels, heavy candlesticks, and a variety of other makeshift weapons. Aranta, Rurark, and a few others were the only ones that were properly armed. Rurark had a rapier that he had bartered from a tribe of traveling shrews a few seasons back. A few seconds later, the patrol set forth.

After the patrol had been walking for almost an hour and a half, the patrol took a short break. Aranta and Rurark sat down on a fallen tree trunk. They both dug out rations from their packs: hard tack and water. "Yuck, this stuff is as hard as a rock!" said Aranta.

"Try dipping it in the water." Rurark advised. Aranta tried it and found the hard tack slightly more appetizing. "So Aranta, exactly how bad _is _that wound of yours?" asked Rurark. Aranta took of his tunic and removed his bandages. "Aranta, I had no clue it was _that _bad! Can you still move you're arm?" Aranta wiggled his shoulder and waved his arm. "Yeah Rurark, I can still move my arm, but it hurts a little." Said Aranta, thinking Rurark was overreacting, although he really wasn't, the wound pained Aranta much more than he would admit. His thoughts were interrupted by a mole who said, "Dangers a' comin', oi feels it in moi diggen' claws!" An arrow twanged into a tree right above Aranta's head. The patrol prepared for a fight.

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_And there is the suspenseful ending of chapter four. I hope more people give me reviews………_


	5. Chapter 5

_Here's chapter 5. Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy with school and that sort of junk. This chapter is just kind of an "appetizer". It is to keep you from losing interest in this story, so it's short._

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Aranta sprung into action immediately, drawing his sword and looking around for who had shot the arrow. Then, without warning, another arrow let fly, and hit a squirrel right between the eyes, killing him instantly. "Show yourselves, cowards!" yelled Aranta at his unseen foes.

Suddenly, three snakes and two lizards with bows and arrows jumped out at the patrol. The lizards cast aside their bows, and drew small curved daggers.

"Those snakes are adders! They're young, but they're still venomous! Focus on the snakes!" said Rurark. The patrol obeyed.

One of the snakes was killed by a mouse who bashed it's skull in with a candlestick.

A lizard appeared behind Aranta. He had no time to react; the lizard raised his curved dagger, preparing itself for the fatal blow, when a narrow, sharp blade sprouted from the lizard's chest. Rurark withdrew his rapier from the dead lizard.

"Thanks" Aranta grunted.

The Remaining two snakes and the other lizard were dispatched quickly by other members of the patrol. The fight was over.

"How many of ours have we lost?" asked Aranta.

"One dead, one dead, and three wounded" said Rurark.

"Bring the all back to Noonvale with us. This patrol is over. I don't want to risk another attack." said Aranta.

A couple of hours later, after the fight, Aranta opened the door of Violet's house. She and Chibbo were sitting and talking.

Violet could see that Aranta was troubled. "What's wrong?" she asked. "I'm tired, my shoulder feels like its on fire, and the patrol got attacked in the woods." Without any more words, he walked to his room.

"What's with him?" Chibbo asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Try getting your shoulder sliced open!" yelled Aranta from his room.

"I'll go see if there's anything I can do for him." said Violet.


	6. Chapter 6

_Okay, I know it took me a _really _long time to update this story. I have been busy lately._

_Here's chapter 6. Enjoy._

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Aranta sat on his bed, trying to ignore the searing pain in his shoulder. _I can't defend Noonvale like this! Why won't I heal faster?! _

Aranta heard a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in" he said. Violet came in and sat next to him. "Let me see your cut" said Violet. Aranta lifted back the sleeve of his tunic and showed her the wound.

"Aranta, you shouldn't have gone on that patrol today, you tore the wound back open."

_No wonder it hurts so bad _thought Aranta.

"Oh! Violet! The patrol! We were attacked by-"

"I know about the lizards, Aranta. Chief Plurba told me everything." _He did? _

"Well anyway, Violet, can you do anything about this blasted cut?"

"I'll try," said Violet "but I can't make any promises."

"Just don't put seaweed grog on it please."

Violet chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't. I'll be right back"

She left the room for a moment, and came back with fresh bandages, some comfrey, and a mortar and pestle. She started grinding up the comfrey, the smell of the herb traveling up to Aranta's nose. When she was finished making the poultice, she applied it to Aranta's wound, and bound it with the bandages.

"There, how does that feel?"

"Better" Aranta said gruffly.

Aranta followed Violet to the main room, and Aranta, Violet, and Chibbo had dinner, and then they all went to bed. All except Aranta, that is.

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_Okay, that was short, I know, but I had to go cut firewood with my dad. I'll write more soon. I'll give you a hint: the next chapter will tie in to an event in Martin The Warrior. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Yes, I know it took me __**Forever**__ to get this chapter uploaded, but it's a pretty good chapter._

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Aranta walked silently through the still forest. He thought the cool night air might speed up the healing process of the gash on his shoulder. He had been walking through the forest for about fifteen minutes, when a rosebush snagged on his footpaw, and he tripped and fell. He bumped his head against a small stone on the way down.

Aranta tried to get up, but the overgrown, thorny rosebush hindered his efforts.

He decided to just sit there for a while until he could muster the strength to get free, as he was very tired from the earlier battle. His eyelids began to droop, so he thought he would sleep a while. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he heard a voice behind him.

It was somebeast singing. The voice sang out from the mists of time.

_You will find me in Noonvale on the side of a hill  
When the summer is peaceful and high  
Where streamlets meander, the valley is still  
'Neath the blue of a calm, cloudless sky  
Look for me at dawn when the earth is asleep  
Till each dewdrop is kissed by the day  
Neath the rowan and alder a vigil I'll keep  
Every moment that you are away.  
The earth gently turns as the seasons change slowly  
all the flowers and leaves born to wane  
hear my song over the lea like the wind soft and lowly  
and come back to Noonvale again._

Aranta was in shock, but he didn't look behind him for fear of making the beautiful song disappear. Once it was over however, he turned around and saw one of the most beautiful mousemaids he had ever seen. But Aranta noticed something strange about her. She seemed almost transparent, and time around him seemed to stop completely.

Then suddenly, she disappeared.

Aranta was in disbelief. He did not understand what had just happened. "What the hell was that?" Aranta said out loud.

Something compelled him to look at the stone he had bumped his head on. The letters were mostly faded and all he could make out was

L t ro e f No nv e

_What is that supposed to mean?_ Aranta thought. It took a minute to set in, and then he realized what had just happened. He had seen a ghost.

At the lizard camp, Karredus, a black adder with iridescent green eyes, who was the leader of the reptilian horde, sat in front of one of his commanding officers. "Iss it ready?" Karredus asked to the trembling lizard in front of him. "Almosssst, your majesssty, the sssalamandersss are almossst finished building it."

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_The salamanders are sort of like the workers for the horde, even though they are not reptiles. I'll have the next chapter up eventually. And yes, just in case you are not smart enough to figure it out, Aranta saw Rose's ghost. I kinda wanted to put emphasis on the whole "Laterose is the guiding spirit of Noonvale" thing._


	8. Chapter 8

Aranta sat for a moment, staring at where the ghostly mousemaid had appeared. Then he got up and dusted himself off. He decided not to tell anybeast about what he had seen, as they might think he had gone mad from the stress of battle.

He walked back through the woods to a gap in the palisade wall, and crept back to Violet's house. He fell asleep almost immediately on a comfortable rush mat.

It was morning, just after the sun had risen.

"Aranta, wake up!"

Aranta yawned. "Why, what's the problem, Violet?" Aranta yawned.

"See for yourself! Grab your sword and get outside!"

Aranta threw off his blanket and grabbed his sword, his bow, and his dagger, and ran outside after Violet.

Rurark ran up beside Aranta, his shrew rapier drawn. "Aranta, Follow me up to the palisade catwalks!" Aranta followed Rurark up to the top of the wooden wall and was completely and utterly shocked at what he saw.

There, standing outside, were over three hundred reptiles, snakes and lizards alike. Standing in the middle of the horde was an enormous battering ram, which was almost as tall as the palisade itself. Over forty lizards were pushing it slowly towards the wall.

"Just one hit from that thing would bring this wall crashing down!" yelled panicked member of the Noonvale militia.

"We can't let that ram reach the palisade! Try an' slow em' down with arrers!" Chief Plurba yelled out over the defenders. Slingstones and arrows alike went buzzing out over the enemy horde. The reptiles fired back with their archers, and complete chaos ensued. The defenders crouched below the palisade as rough, stone-tipped arrows rained down upon them. Aranta knew the Militia would not hold out much longer. The battering ram was getting closer. A desperate plan formed in Aranta's head.

Aranta stopped firing his bow, and called out to Violet, who was tending to a hedgehog who had been shot through the leg with an arrow.

"Violet, listen carefully! I need you and some others to go get all the lamp oil you can find, and fill bottles up with it. I also need you to bring me some old pieces of cloth."

Violet was a bit confused at Aranta's request, but she trusted his judgment, and soon she had a small team of noncombatants-Wounded beasts, young ones, and elders.

_I hope we can hold out long enough until Violet gets back… _Aranta thought grimly.

"The battering ram is getting closer!" yelled somebeast.

Aranta continued firing arrows over the wall, waiting for the materials he needed. He grunted as an arrow grazed his cheek, but thought nothing of it, as all he was thinking about is killing the reptiles, and buying Violet as much time as possible.

"Die Hellspawn!" he yelled madly as he felled an enemy archer with a well placed arrow to the neck. The lizard coughed up some blood, and fell down in a heap.

A few minutes later, Violet and the others came back with dozens of bottles of lamp oil, and many old, torn up rags. They sat it down near Aranta.

"Aranta, your cheek!"

"I don't really care right now, Violet." Aranta said impatiently.

He grabbed the cloth and shoved pieces of it into the bottles of lamp oil.

Aranta struck flint and steel together and built a small fire in a crudely forged iron shield, dropped by a dead Militia member.

The battering ram was just yards away now. The defenders were starting to get hopeless.

"Everyone watch and do as I do!" Aranta lit the cloth sticking out of the top of a bottle. It flared up immediately. Aranta quickly tossed the bottle over the palisade, where it hit the battering ram. The bottle broke into hundreds of shiny pieces, scattering the dry wood of the battering ram with lamp oil, which was soon ignited by the burning cloth.

Militia members started hurling the firebombs, both at the battering ram, and into the horde. This caused pandemonium among the reptiles. They were all terrified of being hit by the volatile firebombs. But they held out. While demoralized by the loss of their battering ram, the lizards still fired arrows up over the palisade.

_At least the battering ram is destroyed. _Thought Aranta.

The Noonvalers were firing arrows madly, barely even aiming. Earlier, Aranta's bowstring had snapped when he brought the string back too far. Instead, he had borrowed Violet's sling, and was whizzing stones off as fast as he could. Suddenly, the entire horde started to retreat. At the rear, a strong looking lizard, bigger than average, was being carried between three others, an arrow in his back. The defenders had hit Karredus's second in command, a lizard named Zootik.

Before the defenders could react further, the reptiles had retreated, their massive siege engine a smoldering piece of wreckage.

Later that day, after Aranta had reluctantly allowed Violet to stitch up the cut on his cheek, a town meeting was called to order in the town square. Aranta was the first to speak.

"From the battle earlier today, I have realized that there is no way we can win this on our own. We are hopelessly outnumbered. For the fate of the village, I am going to carry out this plan: I'm going to journey to Salamandastron, the fortress by the sea. I am going to seek help from the hares and their badger lord. I'm leaving today, alone. I don't want to bring anyone else into this. Noonvale needs all the defenders it can get."

Everybeast was dumbstruck. It was a very long way from Noonvale to the mountain fortress, and to make the trip alone through barely explored territory was bordering on suicide. That's why Aranta left the podium before anybeast could comment. He stopped by Violet's house to retrieve his dagger, sword, and newly restrung bow, plus a haversack he had filled with supplies earlier.

Aranta exited the palisade and set off southwest toward Salamandastron, giving the reptile's camp a wide berth, unaware that a guinea pig, a squirrel, and a mousemaid were following him.

Aranta had been traveling for a while now, and it was getting dark. He decided to set up camp. He set about making a fire, striking flint and steel over a piece of dry moss.

"Hey mate, mind sharin' that fire with us?" Aranta started to draw his sword, but stopped when he recognized the voice to be Rurark's. He turned around and saw Violet and Chibbo standing near Rurark.

"What in the name of Hell are you doing here?" Aranta asked angrily.

"We thought you could use some traveling companions." said Violet.

Aranta gave in. "Alright fine, you win."

Violet, Rurark, and Chibbo came in closer to Aranta's small fire. Chibbo, who had several huge supply packs on his back, said to Aranta "See if you can find some leeks in my packs, will you?"

After some searching, Aranta found three nice large leeks. Violet took them off his paws. "I found some other ingredients back the way w came. I'm making some soup."

Rurark heard his stomach grumble.

"I feel like I haven't eaten in days!" commented Rurark.

After they had cooked and ate the thin but delicious soup Violet had made, Aranta, Violet, and Rurark spread out their blankets. Chibbo settled in under a nearby tree. After Chibbo and Rurark were asleep, Aranta asked Violet

"Did you bring a weapon?"

"I brought a sling" said Violet.

"That won't be enough if we get into real trouble. Here, take my dagger."

Aranta held out the dagger. Violet took it gingerly, looking at its moonlit steel blade."Thank you, I'll keep it close at all times."

Then Violet did something that Aranta never expected. She reached over and kissed him.

Aranta blinked. "I uh…"

"Your welcome" said Violet.

Violet rolled over and went to sleep. Aranta found sleep impossible, however. He had too many thoughts in his head. He got out his sword and a sharpening stone, and sat down by the embers of the fire. After about an hour or so of sharpening his blade, he eventually felt tired. He went back to his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. They all had a long day ahead of them.

At the vermin camp, Zootik was brought on a stretcher to Karredus's tent. There was not much in it; a snake didn't need very many possessions.

"_SSSoooo, you have failed me._"

Said Karredus in a matter-of-fact way.

"It won't happen again, your majesty! Pleazze, let me go!"

Karredus slithered up to where his head was right in front of Zootik's. He opened his mouth and breathed foul, rotten, breath.

"_No, Zootik, it won't happen again! You are now an ordinary hordebeasst. I will find sssomebeast elsse who is more fit to serve me as my ssecond in command._"

The stretcher bearers left to take Zootik to the medical tent, past a hungry looking iguana who was being brutally beaten with a whip.

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

_Just in case you are wondering, Chibbo walks on all fours. You didn't expect the sudden decision to journey to Salamandastron, did you? Heh, I was planning it from the beginning. It might be a while until I update (as always). I decided to make Karredus's speech n italics, because it looks more snake-like. By the way, that iguana was not just some random lizard. (more on that in chapter 9)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Dang, it's been a while. Anyway, here's chapter 8. And there will be Monty Python references in later chapters. Yes I know that was kind of random._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Aranta awoke early. He was sore from all the walking the day before, and the cut on his cheek was throbbing, as well as the wound on his shoulder, which was just starting to form scar tissue. His companions were not awake yet, so he sat around the embers of the fire and sifted through a pack until he found some biscuits and a flask of cherry cordial. He got a biscuit for himself and got out the rest for his friends. Aranta heard a loud snore from Chibbo, and the guinea pig rolled over and landed on a rock.

"Yowch!" he yelped, and Violet and Rurark woke up.

Rurark sprang up, drawing his rapier.

"What happened? Is everyone all right?"

Aranta half smiled. "No, Rurark, we're all dead."

Rurark huffed and put up his weapon. "What's for breakfast?"

"Here, I got out some biscuits and cherry cordial. After this, let's get moving."

"Why do we have to leave so early?" Violet asked.

"The sooner we get to Salamandastron the better." Aranta replied.

They ate their small breakfast, packed up, and continued on, having to put up with Chibbo's constant babble. It wasn't long before they heard the rushing of water in the distance.

"Broadstream." Aranta said, almost automatically.

"Wait a second Aranta, how do we know the way to Salamandastron anyway?" asked Chibbo.

Aranta reached into his haversack and brought out a tattered scroll.

"I kind of, well, borrowed this before I set off. I obviously needed a map. I just hope the recorder hasn't noticed yet."

In about fifteen minutes, the four travelers found themselves staring out across the great Broadstream.

"Uh oh, how are we going to get across that?" Rurark inquired.

"Look's like we've hit our first snag in our journey, friends. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how we can cross either. Ah, but we'll find a- Hey, what's that?" Aranta was cut off by Violet, who was pointing across the river at what appeared to be a small cottage. It was very simple, made of wood, with a thatched roof. Moss grew on the sides, and smoke poured out a small chimney.

Aranta looked like he had an idea.

"Maybe whoever lives there has a boat. Let's yell across and hope we're heard over the noise of the river." The four travelers yelled as loud as they could, but no beast came out.

"Well that worked wonderfully." commented Rurark. "We might as well be talking to Broadstream itself." That's when an ancient vole ambled out of the cloth door flap.

"Eh? Who is it? What do ye want?" The vole was looking in the wrong direction.

"We're over here!" Violet shouted.

"Oh great, an oldster. Looks like we've lost hopes of getting across this river today."

As Rurark was saying this, the ancient vole walked into the bushes and brought out an equally ancient canoe. He dragged it over to the river's edge and put it in, paddling over to the opposite bank, where the travelers were. When he arrived, the vole stepped out of the canoe, and stood close to the travelers, eyeing them closely, but his eyes didn't seem to focus. "Ye ain't one of those lizards, are ye?" Violet reached into the old vole's pocket and got out his eyeglasses. She put them on the ancient creature, and he jumped back.

"Oh, eh, sorry. I thought ye were one o' those reptiles that passed by here a few days ago. Anyway, what did ye want?"

"We were wondering if you could get us across the river" Violet said. The vole looked like he had an idea. "If a river crossin' is what ye be wantin', well I could arrange that. But ye gotta' pay me." He sniffed at the packs on Chibbo, making it clear that he wanted something to eat. "Ah, fine. You can have a biscuit or two, but we can't spare anything else." Aranta said sternly, as he sifted through the packs and found three biscuits. He gave them to the vole. "Thank you, friend, this is the first time I've eaten anything other than roots and fish in years. M'name's Barko, glad ter meet ye." While the four friends were startled at the vole's sudden change of mood, but they all, except for Chibbo, got into the canoe and paddled back across the river. They all waited for Barko to go back for Chibbo. Once Chibbo was back, they said their goodbyes and continued their journey.

Hours later, when it was getting dark, a thunderstorm set in. Lightning cracked the sky while rain poured down in sheets. "We have to find shelter soon!" Aranta shouted over the downpour, shivering. He was soaking wet, and pulling his cloak around him didn't help at all. "Let's get to the top of that hill, maybe we'll see a cave or something!" They all rushed to the top of a small rise in the ground and looked into the distance. They saw a light. The travelers set out towards the pinprick, hoping they could get there before dark.

Deskat the Iguana saw his chance. After being whipped and tortured for hours, he was exhausted, but he had to escape. Since it was raining so hard, all of the reptiles were inside the tents. Deskat had chewed through his rope bonds, and all he was waiting for was a moment like this. He slowly crept off into the night, no beast knowing he was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

_Here's chapter 10. I know the last chapter was more of an experiment to see how detailed I could be in my writing, but this chapter will have a lot of action. And I know there has already been a random cabin/cottage in this fic with another random old guy, but I couldn't think of anything else._

_(Well, I could think of something, but the original idea is that there would be a tavern, but I scrapped that idea, because there is really no form of currency in the Redwall world, and the four travelers don't really have anything to barter.)_

_It's hard to write dialogue and actions for four characters at once, so pardon me if one of the travelers seems to disappear for a few minutes. And yes, the door is locked, that's why Aranta doesn't just open it._

_I said in an earlier chapter that "the events in this story will tie in to the events in Martin the Warrior", I pretty much just meant that they would be referenced to, nothing will really play a major plot role. In case anybody was wondering._

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The travelers in fact did not make it to the pint of light before dark. By then rain was coming down in sheets, and Aranta, Rurark, Violet, and Chibbo all stood soaking wet in front of a small cabin. It was a bit larger than the old Vole's cabin, but it was just as simple. A thin line of smoke came out of the chimney, barely visible in the rain and darkness. Candlelight glowed in the window. Aranta slammed on the door.

"Open up! My friends and I are freezing out here!"

There was no response. Aranta slammed harder on the door harder.

"Open the damn door or I'll beat it open it myse- Aranta, be quiet. No wonder whoever lives here hasn't opened the door yet, with you yelling and cursing like that." Violet interjected. Aranta grumbled as Violet tried a different approach.

"Sorry about my friend here, he's just cold and tired. He means you no harm. We are all very cold out here, so could you please open the door for us?"

The door slowly creaked open, to reveal a very old mouse, clad in a grey robe.

"Come in, come in. I'm sorry I didn't open up sooner, but by your friend's voice, I thought it was some vermin trying to get in here. I was about to gut him!"

"Yeah, good luck with that." muttered Aranta.

The old mouse pulled out a sharp kitchen knife, and then put it down on a small desk, as if warning Aranta not to do anything that would make the old mouse mad.

The travelers came inside. Chibbo of course had some trouble coming through the small doorway, but he managed.

"See that fire there? You're welcome to dry off in front of it" said the old mouse.

After warming up beside the fire, and sharing a small supper of brad that the old muse had made, the four travelers went to sleep. They had a long day ahead of them.

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

_Yeah, I know that seemed kind of rushed, and it was, but it's a bit boring just writing about random traveling stuff, and I think it's time for a bit of action/violence._

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The four travelers woke up to find that the old mouse wasn't in the building. They assumed that he had just gone outside to work on a garden, or something of that sort, but just to be sure, Aranta and Rurark picked up their swords and exited the small cabin.

They were shocked at what they found. There, lying in a pool of blood was the old mouse, dead. His skull was shattered, and it was obvious he had been struck multiple times.

Aranta and Rurark drew their swords. Then they heard movement in the surrounding trees. "Show yourself, you murdering scum!" shouted Rurark. Four weasels, each carrying either a dagger or a club, slowly came out of the forest. "Oh, we'll show ourselves alright, woodlander." said one of them. They drew their weapons, and moved to try a sort of pincer movement.

Aranta rushed the right side, sword drawn. He rushed the first weasel, catching him off guard. Aranta slashed at him once, and then drove his sword into the enemy's chest, finishing him off. The other one was more prepared though, and tried to thrust his dagger between Aranta's ribs. He gave a kick at the weasel's shins, driving him back a bit, and dodging the dagger at the same time. He then slashed at the weasel's arm, and he felt the metal of his sword touch bone. The weasel screamed in pain, dropping his dagger to the ground. Aranta then stabbed him through the chest, killing him almost instantly.

Aranta then looked to see how Rurark was doing. There was one of the other weasels lying on the ground, a puncture wound through his eye.

Aranta turned, only to find Rurark laying unconscious a short distance away, a bump the size of an apple on his head. _One is still left…_

While he was thinking this, the fourth weasel was sneaking up on him. He brought down his club on Aranta's shoulder, although he meant to hit his head. Unbeknownst to the weasel, he hit the exact spot where his wound was.

Aranta saw stars, and he was in so much pain that he almost lost consciousness. He fell to the ground, stunned. The weasel rose up his dagger to finish him off, but suddenly, the tip of a blade protruded out of the weasel's throat, and the weasel fell to the ground, gurgling and spitting up blood. He was dead in a moment.

Aranta looked up, expecting to find Rurark standing there, but he was shocked to find Violet, holding the dagger Aranta had given her.


	11. Chapter 11

_Holy crap it's been like 14 weeks since my last update. I'll try to be more consistent in the future. I said this would be done by Thanksgiving break, and I was truthful, but my frikkin computer deleted the ENTIRE document. So yeah, I had to retype it all from memory. This chapter starts with what is going on with Aranta and stuff, and the second part is about what's going on back in Noonvale. And Deskat is pretty much the same size as an average mouse/mole/ect._

* * *

Violet Appeared quite shaken. She stood over the corpse of the weasel she had just killed, and she was shaking uncontrollably.

"I-I've just killed a beast." She said, barely above a whisper. Se appeared on the verge of tears.

Aranta slowly and painfully picked himself up.

"Violet! You saved my life! I don't know how I can ever repay you!"

"I- guess it's alright then. He deserved it, the scum!"

Aranta was almost startled by her sudden change of mood. She wiped her dagger on the grass and said "I guess we should go tend to Rurark now, Aranta."

Before they walked back to where Rurark was laying unconscious, Aranta noticed that his wound had started bleeding again. He cursed and followed Violet back to where Rurark was laying.

Aranta was just about to go to the old mouse's well to get a bucket of water to toss on Rurark's head when he noticed something was amiss.

"Violet, where's Chibbo?"

Just then, he heard a gasp. Violet was standing over the broken body of Chibbo. He had cuts and slashes all over him, and by the large pool of blood on the ground, it was obvious that he had bled to death.

Aranta heard a rustle in the leaves farther into the forest. Without even thinking, Aranta rushed off, as fast as he could go, with his sword at the ready. Violet was following close behind. There, ahead of him running for his life, was a fifth weasel. He was obviously the leader of the gang, as he was clothed slightly better and had a rusty short sword instead of a club. The chase lasted a good five minutes, but Aranta caught up with him.

The weasel was backed up against a tree, pleading for his life.

"Please! Don't kill me! I was just trying to avenge the death of my mate's, you've got to understand!"

But Aranta didn't even hear his desperate cries, he was so intent upon killing. Violet gasped in shock as Aranta plunged his sword into the heart of the weasel, killing him instantaneously. But he wasn't done there. Some terrible instinct told him to keep hacking, slashing! Before it was over, the mangled form of the weasel was barely even recognizable as a once living thing.

"Aranta!" Violet said in horror.

Aranta turned on her so quickly Violet for a moment feared for her life. Something strange shone in Aranta's eyes, a look of insane bloodlust, a look of extreme hatred and rage. Then it was gone, and Aranta dropped his sword and fell to the ground, tears streaming down the sides of his newly blood splattered cheeks.

_(How's that for a dark character?_

_I know Chibbo's death was sudden, but I thought about him long and hard, and really, why the heck would there be a guinea pig in Redwall? I mean, an Iguana is one thing, but a guinea pig? I couldn't just make a break in the plot and "Discontinue" him, so he pretty much just had to die. And also it gave me an opportunity to show Aranta's darker side, and foreshadow "something" later in the story. (If you can't guess what the look in Aranta's eyes it than you haven't read enough Redwall books.)And yes, they will revive Rurark in the next chapter, which will most likely be written over Christmas break._

_If you haven't noticed yet, I've sort of made a joke out of Aranta's shoulder wound. You know, it just heals, and then it starts bleeding again. I also meant t to be kinda symbolic of how stubborn Aranta is.) And now to Noonvale.)_

* * *

Deskat had been moving through the forest as quietly as he could, and it took him hours to reach the palisade gate around the main portion of Noonvale, and by that time, it was dawn. Many of the houses left unprotected by the palisade were heavily damaged by the Lizards' first attack. The Iguana walked slowly up to the main gate, trying to appear non-threatening. The sentries, who were standing on the narrow catwalk at the top of the palisade had their bows on him immediately, and let loose two arrows. Luckily for Deskat, their aim was less than perfect, and one of the arrows went sailing over his head, but the other one hit him in the leg, causing him to fall over.

"You foolss! Can you not sssee that I am unarmed? I came here with no harmful intent!"

The two sentries, still very cautious, called for Chief Plurba. He was there shortly, and immediately ordered the two sentries to open the Palisade gate, instructing one of them to keep his bow ready, and the other to help him with the wounded iguana.

Plurba and the sentry carried him over to a building which was serving as a makeshift infirmary. It was filled with the wounded of the lizard's earlier attack. Some of the creatures had been wounded quite badly let out occasional moans.

"Is thisss really necessssecary?"

said Deskat as Plurba lay him down on one of the cots, with a half pained, half irritated tone.

"After you are properly tended to, you and I have a little talking to."

Plurba said the word "talking" in a lower tone, as if warning the lizard not to try anything stupid.

Deskat let out an irritated sigh.

"That is the reason I came here, o creature of vast intelligence. Unlessss, of course, I am a spy or assassssin, in which case you might want to sssecond guess you're decision to keep me here."

He smiled mischeviously.

"But lucky for you I'm a friend, and would never do such a thing. You or your village won't come to any harm, from me that is."

As Plurba left the infirmary, Deskat could be heard in the background yelling at a nurse to fix up his whip lashings before she tried to yank out the arrow from his leg.

_This chapter was a little bit short I know, but I reeeaaaly wanted to put it up as soon as possible. I'll update again over Christmas break._


	12. Chapter 12

_Yeah I know I said I would update over Christmas break, but who really cares. Its close enough right? Well not really but okay. Starwars Battlefront 2 is fun. Cheese. Fallout 3. Yeahhh…Anyway, here's chapter 12. Aranta seems kinda emo in this chapter, but bear with me, ye hear? (By the way, you should check out my other fic, ashes of mossflower. It's a post- Apocalyptic Redwall story that is largely based on Fallout 3. Except there are no nukes (Salamandastron erupts, frying Mossflower), and no guns, so it's still pretty believable as far as the Redwall universe goes._

* * *

Aranta lay in the dirt, shivering as if the temperature had dropped to below freezing. His eyes were shut tight, and his fists were clenched.

The weasel probably deserved to die, but nobeast deserved to die like that. But what shook Aranta the most was that after only a few more seconds in his blood-crazed state, Violet would have ended up the same as the weasel. This fact seriously scared Aranta.

Violet was horrified at what she had just witnessed. She felt a strong urge to run as far away from this whole thing as possible, but she forced herself to move closer to Aranta, just to see if there was anything at all that she could do for him. His eyes snapped open.

"Get away from me." he said darkly.

"You would have ended up just like that weasel." He said, a single tear running down the side of his cheek.

Violet herself wiped a way a tear. The truth was that Aranta had really scared her.

This whole thing was obviously a problem only he could deal with. She began to walk back to where Rurark was. There had to be something she could do for the squirrel.

Aranta slowly dragged himself up.

"What the hell was that!?" he screamed at himself, plunging his sword into a nearby tree with such force that it buried nearly half of the blade. He leaned against the tree, breathing heavily. At that moment he just happened to see his arms. They were almost completely covered in the weasel's blood, and the previously dark brown fur was now dark red. He then looked at his shirt, which he noticed, to his shock, was almost entirely stained red. He wrenched his sword out of the tree, and even after that it was still dripping with blood. His memory of what had just happened was a bit hazy, but, to his horror, it was slowly coming back to him.

Aranta glanced at the weasel he had killed, and soon wished he hadn't. Mutilated wasn't an accurate descriptive term. The weasel was barely even recognizable as a weasel anymore. It was more of a red shapeless mass of gore. A large pool of blood was forming around it, and its right arm was severed at the elbow.

Aranta looked away, and vomited instantly.

_Lovely descriptions, huh?_

Aranta debated in his mind the decision to go back to were Violet and Rurark were. He was more than ashamed at himself, he was even a bit freaked out at himself, and he didn't really want to face Violet and Rurark at the moment. But the thought of staying where he was, near the dead weasel, seemed far worse to him, and he began to walk back.

* * *

At the moment a medic was yanking the arrow out of Deskat's leg. The lizard had insisted upon getting quite drunk before hand, so he wasn't feeling much pain from the whole thing. Actually, he wasn't feeling much of anything at all. He had overdone it a bit, and was now unconscious. The arrow was now out of his leg, and the medic left quite quickly, as the iguana was regaining consciousness, and the medic was a bit frightened that there was a reptile in the infirmary, even though Deskat had made no move to hurt anybody.

Deskat awoke about fifteen minutes later. He was still pretty drunk. Something in the back of his mind was bothering him, but he couldn't remember what it was at the moment. He thought about it. It was something very important, that concerned everybeast in Noonvale. Suddenly he remembered.

"I need to talk to the chief!"

He said, his voice slightly slurred. He tried to get up, but one of the medics set him back down.

"You're not going anywhere, _sir._"

He said with much sarcasm.

"I'll get Plurba to come _here _when you're not drunk anymore."

Deskat could have easily overpowered the young sarcastic mouse, but he decided not to, as he would need the Noonvalers on his side if they were to believe the news he had to bring.

* * *

When Violet got to where Rurark was, he had already regained some form of consciousness. He could hardly remember anything of what had happened, and he felt like his brain had been mashed out by a lemon wrapped around a gold brick. Everything looked blurred.

_Did anyone get the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy reference? If not, READ IT!!!!!!! It's hilarious! Sorry…And Tacos are tasty… mmm…_

"Did we get 'em? The weasels?"

He asked, his voice faint. His vision and his memory were coming back to him bit by bit.

"Yeah, Rurark, we got 'em."

She looked away.

"You look upset, Violet, what's going on?"

"Oh… It's nothing." She lied. Rurark would find out about the Death of Chibbo and what had happened with Aranta soon enough.

At that very moment Aranta walked slowly into camp and sat down wordlessly a short distance off.

"Aranta, what in hellgates?" Said Rurark, wondering what was going on.

"Just let me be for awhile!" He said loudly.

"I'm sorry. I just need some time to think." With that, Aranta got up grabbed his pack, which contained extra clothes, and went off in search of a stream to wash off the blood that covered much of his body.

* * *

Yeah, I know, nothing very important got accomplished here, but in the next chapter something big is going to happen in Noonvale. Yeah… And I won't give an estimate on when the next chapter will be up because I always turn out to be wildly inaccurate. Remember, you can always check out Ashes of Mossflower if you like post apocalyptic stuff. If you haven't noticed I'm sorta using the stuff that is happening right now as a distraction to let me think about what is going to happen in Noonvale(I know now, though), in addition to developing character.


	13. Chapter 13

Wow, it's been a while, huh? Anyway, this is Chapter 13. I was thinking of making an April fools chapter where would I would state that the story should take a different turn, and everyone would be Warhammer 40,000 space marines from now on, with maybe a little bit of a starcraft "looks like you mashed some poor fella's dog, sarge" moment. but it's sort of too late for that now(but odds are that at the rate i'm going this fic will still be in progress next year!). But at least you can imagine the hilariousness. Sort of.

I know I may be over-focusing on the whole thing that happened with Aranta, but this is actually a quite important part of my development of him as a character, and even has quite a bit of plot importance, although it may not look that way at the moment.

And I just remembered that eventually I'm going to have to write molespeech. Crap!

Oh, and seeing as how poorly detailed I was in the First few chapters, and it's probably too late for descriptions now, I will describe my character's appearances.

Aranta has very dark brown fur, to the point of being almost black. (Fitting for his personality), and he usually wears a blue shirt.

Rurark is a typical red squirrel, and wears a dark brown shirt.

Violet pretty much just has light brown fur, with a bit of cream color here and there. She usually wears a traveler's cloak kind of thing that is green in color. (similar to what Rose wore in the TV series)

I also have a Deviantart (I go by the same name there) account where I have a few pics of my characters(as well as a few cool Sci-fi pics; some are even 3D models),, although the ones of Violet look sort of cartoony like the Redwall TV show. Which was pretty stupid at times. I mean WTF, if someone gets a sword in them or gets killed, there's going to be some blood(The violence was toned down WAY too much). And the entire first season that was based off of the original Redwall was entirely screwed up. The plot wasn't even in order! But I'll stop ranting now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Aranta, having found a quiet, shaded spot near a stream, sat down on a small rock. He was shaking, and had a sudden lack of strength. He soon found himself staring at his sword, which was still stained red. He thought of how easy it would be to simply turn the sword on himself and end his own life. He was thinking seriously about actually doing it, until he thought of his friends. Then, angry at himself for thinking such thoughts, he threw his sword to the ground, and threw his fist against a tree, causing his paw to bleed.

He didn't really notice the pain; besides, the pain he felt inside was worse. Aranta was soon staring down into the cool, clear water of the stream. He saw that his face, his clothes, and his arms were covered in dark, red blood. He dunked his head in the water, and it soon took on a dark red hue, which gradually dissipated as the blood was carried further down by the water of the slow moving stream. He withdrew his head to take a breath and stared at his reflection in the blood red water.

The reflection suddenly seemed to ripple by some unknown force, and then it disappeared. Soon, Aranta was just staring in shock at what was suddenly just plain, blood colored water. Then another image replaced itself where his had been. It was an image of the ghostly mousemaid he had seen back in Noonvale near the forgotten grave marker. Only this time, she wasn't ghostly; instead, she appeared as if she was just on the other side of the reflection, staring back at him across time. He turned quickly and looked behind him, but there was nothing there.

Aranta suddenly began feeling extremely sleepy, and within moments he couldn't fight the urge to sleep any longer, and leant back against a small tree.

There was a battle. A huge battle, one that had taken place in the distant past. Woodlanders and vermin alike lay lead on the battlefield, and it was a scene of complete chaos. However, one warrior stood out in particular. He was young, around Aranta's age, and he was proud and strong.

Suddenly, the scene in Aranta's dream changed.

A mousemaid; the one Aranta had seen in the reflection, and a mole were assaulting what looked to be the Vermin army's leader. She was thrown against a wall, staining it red. Aranta could almost feel the rage of the strong, young warrior. He jumped straight down from the top of the Vermin fortress, desperate for vengeance.

Then the scene changed again.

It was raining, as if the earth was weeping. There was a crowd of sad creatures crowded around a grave. The same grave that Aranta had seen himself, only now, it was fresh, and the rosebush had just been planted atop the fresh brown dirt that covered the top of the grave. Then the time sped up; the gravestone weathered more and more until the words written on it were barely readable, and the forest overtook the grave, and it was forgotten by everybeast.

The final scene was the most horrifying.

Aranta saw the face of the weasel he had slaughtered. After the image was fully burned into Aranta's mind, the face of the weasel slowly changed into the face of Violet. Then time sped up again, but this time more slowly, and Aranta watched in horror as insects, then worms, overtook Violet's corpse. Soon, he was faced with only her skull, bleaching in the sun, staring back at him through dead, empty eye sockets. Then the horrifying image faded, and the Mysterious Mousemaid appeared before him. "If you do not control your actions, your Violet will end up like me. Dead, and eventually forgotten. If you continue on the path you are going down now, you will face only pain and misery."

Then she vanished, and Aranta woke up trembling, chilled to his very bones. He stopped himself from shaking long enough to walk over to the stream. He looked down into the water, almost expecting to see the mousemaid peering back at him, but instead he saw only his own bloodstained face.

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About thirty minutes later, Aranta walked wordlessly back to the old mouse's cabin, where Violet was tending to the now fully conscious Rurark. Aranta had cleaned the blood off of himself, and he had changed into new clothes. He was so silent in coming that he made Rurark jump as he dropped his pack down on the ground and sat a short distance away from them.

"Chibbo is dead." he said flatly to Rurark. Violet still hadn't told him the news yet, and it came as quite a shock to the poor squirrel.

"What? How?!" He stuttered.

"He was killed by one of the weasels, Rurark. I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier, but you were hurt, and I-I just couldn't." Violet's voice was noticeably shaky.

"Shouldn't we do something for him and that old mouse? It just doesn't feel right just leaving them here..."

Aranta cut in, his voice hard as stone.

"There is nothing you can do. There is nothing anyone can do! Death is permanent!"

Rurark was startled at Aranta's sudden outburst.

"Aranta, what's going on? You're on edge, and your eye's are red. Something happened while I was knocked out, didn't it?"

"I don't know what the hell happened, and you sure as hell wont find out any time soon! Everybeast get your supplies together, we're leaving now!"

"You may be the one who embarked on this this quest, but that doesn't mean you can treat us like that!"

Aranta drew his sword. He pointed it straight at Rurark. The squirrel was up in a flash, as was Violet. He drew his rapier, and pointed it right back at Aranta, and Violet did the same with her dagger.

"Put she sword down Aranta!" shouted Violet desperately.

Aranta blinked a few times, and took several deep breaths. He put away his sword, and took a few more deep breaths before beginning to speak.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that. I just want to get away from this place. And Rurark, If you really want to know what happened, I'll tell you. Just not now though. First, I need to figure out what happened. And don't try to make any sense of that statement yet."

Rurark and Violet lowered their was surprised at how quickly Aranta regained control, and she could tell he was tired, but anxious to continue the journey to Salamandastron.

Aranta felt a bit strange. He felt utterly exhausted, but somehow he wanted to continue on; He just wanted to forget everything for a while. He also felt a small bit of happiness, because he had regained his control before something terrible happened, as he was warned in his dream. Aranta's thoughts were interrupted by Violet.

"We'll travel for half of today if we must. Aranta needs to rest." She said as if he wasn't even there. Aranta didn't give much of a reply; he only shouldered his pack, and said "lets go."

Soon, the three travelers were continuing through the forest, not so cheerfully, on their journey to Salamandastron.

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The reason there is a good guy lizard is because it always ticked me off that in the Redwall books, the reptiles were pretty much all the same, with no variety(lol redundancy). And I know I'm being lazy with lizard accentsss.

After Deskat had his wounds patched up by the good creatures of the infirmary, and rested for an hour or two, Plurba walked in.

"Can you walk?" He asked the lizard.

Deskat made no response, but the answer to the chief's question was made obvious, because he rolled out of the bed, and started limping over to Plurba.

"You sssaid earlier that we had to talk, did you not?"

"Come" Said Plurba, leading the lizard to another wooden building, which was serving as a headquarters.

There were already guards posted in the building, around a long table, which was used for meetings. Each of the guards were wielding hastily made spears, which were now being distributed to almost everybeast who could fight by Noonvale's blacksmith, who was not used to making weapons of war; only farm tools and such.

Plurba set down at one end of the table, and motioned to Deskat to sit down as well.

"So," said the mouse, "What have you come here to to tell me, and why should I trust you?"

"Firssst of all, you should trust me because of this." Deskat turned around and showed his lashings, which were wrapped in bandages, to Plurba.

"Jussst because I refused to cannabalize other creaturesss, they did thisss to me."

"Alright, go on." Plurba was beginning to trust the lizard more and more, but he was still a bit skeptical, as were many of his guards, which looked a bit uneasy.

"I've come here to tell you that you are all going to die." He paused for effect, and looked at the angry looks on the faces of everybeast in the room. Then he decided it was better to continue talking instead of getting a spear in his throat.

"You are all going to die; If you don't listen to what I have to tell you. It was not easy escaping from all those other filthy reptiles, so listen carefully."

"The horde has increassed in numbersss since their first attack here. They have been recruiting any reptile or amphibian within milesss of here, and their goal is to kill of anything that has warm blood. There are far too many of them to hold off in your current state of defenssse."

"And what do you suggest we do about it?" Asked the Chief, who sounded quite angry.

"Molesss live here, do they not? I would suggest digging a network of tunnels, just outside the village. That way you could use hit and run tacticsss, and then return underground. And you'd better do it quickly, because the horde looked like they were ready for an attack when I essscaped from there."

"Alright." said Plurba.

"Keep a close eye on the lizard until I say otherwise. But he's free to do as he wishes around here, as long as he's doing something helpful and staying out of trouble."

Deskat was annoyed that the Noonvalers still did not trust him, but he was at least happy to have some freedom. He limped out of the wooden building, and found himself watched by many eyes as he set off to look for something to do that might increase the woodlanders' trust of him.

Before Plurba would believe anything that the lizard said, he was going to send a scouting party to check out the reptilian horde, and see if anything was different.

He dismissed the guards, and called five woodlanders to attention. One of them was a young otter named Tarff.

"The lizard you all saw earlier has stated that the reptilian horde has grown in numbers, and that they may be planning an attack. I want you to travel to the edge of their camp, and see what is going on. Keep your heads and ears down, and you won't lose them. Report directly to me when you get back."

The five woodlanders were armed with the same sort of poorly made spears that the guards in Plurba's headquarters were wielding. Tarff was excited and nervous; he had never been given a real mission before, and was wondering if he was going to come out of it alive.

The five scouts lifted the heavy log which held the palisade gates closed, and set off into the forest.

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Sorry... there's a little bit of fluff here. *sneezes*. But Aranta being the main character here, it's sort of dark fluff. But still fluff, which I know can be annoying at times. But it's kind of unavoidable at the moment.

The three travelers had only been on the move for about four hours, and it was only midday, when Aranta suddenly stopped in a small shady clearing, with a few patches of grass here and there.

"Let's camp here." he said, his energy completely gone from the day's events.

As Rurark and Violet sat their things down, and began preparing a meal, Aranta laid down on a patch of grass, not even bothering to get out his blanket.

"Aranta, are you sure you don't want something to eat?" Asked Violet as she brought out a small loaf of bread.

"I'm not hungry." Was all Aranta said in response, and soon he was sleeping deeply.

It was almost dark when Aranta awoke, and Violet had started a small fire. She and Rurark were boiling some roots and tubers they had found in the area.

Aranta was suddenly very hungry. He hadn't eaten all day, and with the strain of fighting, and to say nothing of all of the other things that had happened, he was extremely low on energy.

"Did you cook enough for three?" He asked Violet and Rurark.

"We figured you'd wake up sooner or later."

Said Rurark as he handed Aranta some boiled roots, served on a piece of dry tree bark.

After eating all of them rather quickly, he put the tree bark aside and waited for Rurark and Violet to finish eating.

They also finished the small meal quickly; they could tell Aranta was anxious to say something.

He paused a moment or two, then nervously began to speak.

"I'm not quite sure what happened earlier," he paused.

"But I completely lost my sense of who was friend or foe. I could've killed you both. You wouldn't believe how close I came to completely losing my sanity. And I'm sorry for when I drew my sword on you, Rurark. I don't know what came over me."

Aranta knew Rurark had only seen a small part of what had happened, but the squirrel seemed to understand anyway. Possibly even more than Violet, because he had known him all his life and could almost tell what he was feeling by the look on his face.

"Rurark, we're running low on wood for the fire, do you think you could go find some more?" said Aranta.

It was really a horrible excuse; there was plenty of wood already stacked up, and to say something like that right after the previous speech seemed just just plain stupid. What Aranta really wanted was a few minutes alone to talk to Violet.

Rurark gave a hint of a smile as he walked away from the fire. Aranta didn't even begin to fool him, but he knew that Violet was important to him, so he kept his mouth shut.

"What is it, Aranta?" Violet asked. It was also quite plain to her that he hadn't really sent Rurark for firewood.

"Violet, I don't know if you've realized this or not, but after I killed that weasel, when I turned around so quickly, I was a fraction of an instant away from killing you. I don't know what stopped me; maybe it was luck, or maybe I somehow subconsciously stopped myself, but whatever happened there, I wasn't myself. Everything looked as though I were seeing it through a red haze. It was almost as if some inner darkness was controlling my actions."

Violet had not known half of what Aranta was saying, and it shocked her to hear those things. No wonder he wanted to see me alone she thought. She could tell Aranta wasn't finished speaking, so she remained quiet.

Then Aranta's next words came as even more of a shock.

"I seriously considered ending my life today." he paused again.

"But I remembered you, and how much you've helped me. Hell, you even saved my life earlier today. But if you ever see me going into that blood-crazed state again, and I'm not able to snap out of it quick enough, there is something else I need you to do for me. Hand me your dagger."

With all of the talk of Aranta thinking of killing himself, Violet was a bit hesitant, but in the end, she handed the small weapon over to him.

Aranta tested the blade, but slipped up and accidentally and made a small cut on his finger. He pretended not to notice.

"It should be sharp enough." He said darkly.

He handed it back to her

"Sharp enough for what?" Violet asked, but she already knew the answer.

"If you see me acting how I did earlier, the first thing I want you to do is run. But if that's not a possibility, I want you to use that dagger, and kill me before I do something for which I could never forgive myself."

Aranta could see that Violet was beginning to have tears in her eyes, and he didn't quite know how to respond. He put his paws on her shoulders, and looked at her.

"Violet, I'm here now, aren't I? I doubt you'll ever have to kill me. I was just planning ahead, just in case. I didn't mean to hurt you."

The truth was that when Aranta said "I doubt you'll ever have to kill me.", he really had no clue, and had said it mainly to comfort Violet, who was now beginning to weep.

"I know you didn't mean to hurt me, Aranta. I just don't ever want to have to hurt you."

Aranta was silent for a few seconds, then he simply said "It's alright.", not really knowing what else to say.

"I hope that's true, Aranta." She said, her eyelids drooping. Soon she was resting her head on Aranta's chest. He could tell that she was very tired; it had been a quite eventful day to say the least.

"Aranta. There's something else I have to tell you. After you killed that weasel, when you turned around and faced me, there was a strange look in your eyes. They looked distant, and had a sort of reddish color to them..."

She nodded off to sleep. Aranta put his arm around her, and pondered what she said for a while, but after a while he couldn't think of it any longer. It was too dark a thought for such a moment. He smiled, and it was the first time he had felt happiness in a long time. Soon he himself began to feel tired, and he fell asleep, Violet still resting against him. This time there would be no horrible nightmares.

Rurark walked back into the camp, surprisingly carrying firewood (he had to do something while he was away). He walked over to set it down next to the fire, which was now burning low. He looked around, and he couldn't see Aranta or Violet anywhere. He was just about to call out for them, when he heard a small snore. He saw them sleeping peacefully against an old oak, not too far off from the fire.

Rurark got a blanket out of his pack and put it over the two mice. He knew they needed their rest, and so did he. Soon he too was asleep under his blanket, a short distance from the fire.

And that's the end of chapter 13. And there will probably be no more fluff for a while. The stuff in Noonvale is going to start progressing more rapidly now. Anyway, leave reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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